faunal realms

The simplest groupings of the animals of the world. The holarctic realm covers two subdivisions: the nearctic (almost all of North America, with Greenland) and the palearctic (Asia north of the tropics, Europe, and Africa north of the Sahara). The neotropical realm covers Central and South America, and the ethiopian embraces Africa south of the Sahara and Arabia. The oriental realm is Asia south of the tropics with an ill-defined boundary between it and the Australian realm which includes New Zealand, Australia, Oceania, and some of South-East Asia.